State: 1 in 23 O.C. students suspended last year

Buena Park police officers Luis Garcia, left, and James Woo, escort Cheree People, 33, to their patrol car, handcuffed and under arrest during a truancy sweep on Thursday. People's elementary school child had accumulated 20 unexcused absences as of January. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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After arresting Toya Latrice Daniels, Buena Park police officer James Woo, right, walks Daniels out her home and to his patrol car for transportation to the Buena Park Police Department. By March of the school year, Daniels' elementary school child had accumulated 17 unexcused absences. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Thursday morning in Buena Park, Francisco Reynoso, an investigator with the Orange County District Attorney's office, uses caution as he enters the home of a parent arrested for failure to respond to numerous interventions to reduce the truancy of an elementary school child. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Orange County schools suspended 1 in 23 students, expelled 1 in 1,411 and recorded as truant 1 in every 5 last year, according to a first-ever release of school discipline data gathered using a state system that tracks students more accurately.

The 2011-12 data released Friday reports school suspension, expulsion and truancy rates using a system that tracks discipline actions by student, rather than event.

The data is meant to provide a better baseline for tracking changes in coming years and help jumpstart local conversations about how districts handle behavioral problems, said Keric Ashley, the state Department of Education's director of analysis, measurement and accountability reporting.

"Common sense tells us that we cannot teach students who are not in school," state schools chief Tom Torlakson said in a statement.

The state suspended 1 in 20 students and expelled 1 in 1,000, according to Torlakson. Statewide, 1 in 3.5 students were marked as truant, according to the data release.

But even as the state touted the new system, an Orange County expert called its findings into question, saying the data may contain significant errors.

"I know with the numbers under the expulsions there is something wrong," said Rick Riegel, coordinator of student services for the Orange County Department of Education.

For example, the state reports no expulsions for Anaheim Union High School District, the county's fourth-largest school district. But under the old system, the district reported more than 100 expulsions.

Ashley said some errors may have occurred as school districts adjusted to the new reporting methods.

In the past, the state collected data from individual school districts on the number of suspensions issued during the year; now, they are asked to name each student suspended, which allows the state to track suspension rates.

The new system comes amid a statewide push to reduce student suspensions and expulsions.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District, at 14.7 percent, posted the highest suspension rate of any O.C. district, according to the state data.

High suspensions and truancy rates have plagued the district in past years, but measures put in place this year are expected push the numbers down, school board President Dana Black said.

"We have really looked at our children very carefully, trying to figure out why we're suspending and what we're suspending for," said Jane Garland, Newport-Mesa Unified director of community services.

The district's suspension rate dropped about 40 percent since it implemented this fall a restorative justice program that focuses on reasons students are suspended or don't show up for class, Garland said.

O.C. Department of Education schools recorded the lowest suspension rate in the county, because it enrolls students who have been expelled from other districts and rarely issues suspensions, Riegel said.

Anaheim City, the county's largest elementary district, posted a suspension rate of 2.4 percent. That is partly because of the students' age, but also because of a push to reduce suspensions and use positive behavioral modification systems, said Leslie Coghlan, Anaheim City's director of pupil services.

"It's not working just to suspend," Coghlan said. "That's not changing their behavior."

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